Hit Him With Your Best Shot
Fresh from my Corona slump, I’d like to start back by putting Tara Reade’s story to rest. I am not going to detail her sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden *see link below, my point is simply that no one should feel like a guilty hypocrite for not believing her. And though her motive is unclear, there is a myriad of reasons I’m suspicious and I’m still a woman and still a feminist.
Every allegation of sexual abuse must be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. But we have to admit that some are false claims. Women can be used as political pawns, have selfish motives, and be liars. Even in the days of #MeToo.
First off, Joe Biden has been in public service for decades and decades. He was exhaustively vetted to be Vice President in the 2008 and 2012 elections. It would have made zero sense for Obama to choose him if there were skeletons lurking. It’s inconceivable that the GOP wouldn’t have used any convincing smear to prevent Barack Hussein Obama from becoming president.
Skip to 2020. It’s a bit murky but it appears Reade came forward with this new allegation (she had previously, along with some others, accused Biden of being ‘handsy’) around mid March 2020 coincidentally (?) when Bernie’s campaign tanked and Biden’s campaign suddenly and surprisingly took off. The Times Up Legal Defense Fund had declined to represent her, but she found her way to a podcast with Katie Halper where she spoke for the first time about the assault (as opposed to uncomfortable touching). Later in April, as the Coronavirus surged through the country, Business Insider published Tara Reade’s story. Never ones to waste a prurient scandal, the media went crazy. Joe appeared with Mika Brzezinski and calmly denied the allegation. The New York Times did an investigative piece, then every reporter and writer piled on. And what did we learn? Ms. Reade changed her story multiple times, was a die hard Biden supporter, then an avid Bernie supporter, was in love with Vladamir Putin, so much so that in 2018 she wrote a paper, a love letter really, praising him. Putin. Then there are accounts of her lying and cheating, being disturbed even desperate. Did she deserve a definitive response from Joe Biden? Yes. Did it deserve our attention? Yes. Every accuser deserves attention, but the pieces don’t add up. Michael Stern who spent 28 years as a prosecutor and worked on many sexual assault cases wrote a detailed piece in USA Today which outlines the specific holes in this story. *see link. In the end, Reade is not credible. That’s all there is to it.
None other than Kirsten Gillebrand, then Stacey Abrahms, the Obamas, Hillary, all Biden’s many staffers male and female, even Lindsey Graham, unequivocally defended Joe Biden. Graham also defended Brett Kavanaugh, but no one held a gun to his head to stick up for Joe. Speaking of Brett Kavanaugh, the bot farms and Brad Pascale’s (trump’s campaign manager) ops ensured that Kavanaugh is used as the comparison, not the boss with his 25+ recorded allegations of sexual misconduct and assault.
Is touching young women constantly and kissing their heads icky? Yep, and I cringe to think of the men I have known (of that age group) who did the same kinda thing, some relatives and bosses. “A secretary is not a toy.” is an actual lyric from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying*see link. It was grudgingly tolerated up until quite recently, but then anyone who is alive and female knows this. Biden is at fault here and has apologized and vowed to change his behavior. But does it lead to more aggressive exploit? Assaults are not one-offs, there is nearly always an established pattern over time. In this case, there is no pattern.
Biden is one of the most well liked people in Washington DC, land of a thousand enemies and endless scandals. Abusers and sex offenders get outed and ousted often; Dennis Hastert, Mark Foley, John Conyer, Robert Packwood, Rob Porter, and Bill Clinton to name just a few. Sex scandals go as far back as the Founding Fathers and Capital Hill staffers share information on men to be avoided, Biden was not one of them.
It seems particularly difficult for Bernie supporters to believe that a woman could lie and/or that Joe Biden is telling the truth. This is a problem I’d like Senator Sanders to address. He also has known Biden for many years.
Lastly, the most telling thing is that donald trump who is ripping lines of Adderall and shitting his pants, literally, at the thought of running against, and losing to, Joe Biden, has spent, we’d have to guess years, trying to find dirt on his inevitable opponent and the best they could do was Hunter and Burisma.
I hardly think that Ukraine was their starting point. They wound up in Ukraine, because there is nothing closer to home.
Impeachment was no minor matter for the donald, even when acquittal in the Senate was certain. It would seem that with $500 million at their disposal, trump’s team would have found and snatched up Tara Reade’s salacious claim, or any other juicy scandal for that matter, rather than go with a tedious board of directors scheme involving Biden’s…yawn…son. Trump’s mouthpiece, Fox, and other right wing outlets are hammering at the hypocrisy angle equating her story to Blasey Ford - Kavanaugh. It’s thin ice because donald’s own alarming and very real record of sexual assault is now also circulating again.
Look, trump is flailing and the GOP will fling any feces they can find at our candidates no matter who, If this is their best shot, then fire away.
Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/05/01/a-timeline-of-tara-reades-sexual-assault-allegations-against-joe-biden/#3aaef47a7e6f Concise timeline of the story
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/29/joe-biden-sexual-assault-allegation-tara-reade-column/3046962001/
https://genius.com/Frank-loesser-a-secretary-is-not-a-toy-lyrics A brow raiser of a lyric and worth reading.